Quotes from Kerry Washington

I really love research. It's one of the things I love most about my job. I feel like it's me in the lab cooking up the character.

It is important to have friends and family around that I love and trust and who love and trust me.

I always prided myself on the fact that I could live out of milk crates forever. It was kind of my way of detaching from materialism.

One of the most amazing things about my job is that I have arguably, maybe not even arguably - definitively - the best boss on the planet. Shonda Rhimes is the best.

The breakdown of the black community, in order to maintain slavery, began with the breakdown of the black family. Men and women were not legally allowed to get married because you couldn't have that kind of love. It might get in the way of the economics of slavery. Your children could be taken from you and literally sold down the river.

The No. 1 reason women stay in abusive relationships - because they're not able to take care of themselves financially. It's also the No. 1 reason why women go back.

I don't think I'm even close to fulfilling my potential. And I think also that, unlike a pianist or a flutist, an actor has an instrument that is constantly changing.

Every actor you work with has a different method, same with the director. You have to figure out what your shared language is and how to best support each other, and also take care of yourself.

I was really lucky because I went to an all-girl school, and that single-sex education really helped me because I really learned to bond with women and to not compete with or compare myself as much because we were all allowed to be ourselves and be unique and kind of have our unique strengths.

Arts education must be part of our education solution because it works for all students.

You're able to make a real difference. If a woman's able to step away financially, she's able to begin to do all the other work.

That's what acting is - it's about having the courage to allow your audience into the private moments of your characters' lives.